Former Hialeah Police Chief Sergio Velazquez was arrested Monday morning on multiple charges related to financial crimes, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
Velazquez, 61, was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on charges of money laundering, organized fraud, and first-degree grand theft. His bond was set at $30,000.
“Law enforcement officers are held to a higher standard of degree and character. They expect to uphold the trust that the public is placed in them. In this case, it revealed that Velasquez himself violated the trust integrity expected of him as the police chief,” said John Beck, special agent in charge, during a Monday afternoon press conference.
Velazquez served as Hialeah’s top cop from 2012 until his removal by former Mayor Esteban Bovo in 2021. An arrest warrant reveals that following his departure, the Hialeah Police Department was “unable to account for large amounts of ‘petty cash’ utilized by the HPD Special Investigations Section (SIS) for narcotics investigations that was disbursed during Velazquez’s tenure.”
Between 2015 and 2021, investigators say approximately 100 petty cash checks were cashed, totaling more than $2.8 million. Only about $209,000—roughly 7.3%—was documented as legitimate SIS expenses. That leaves nearly $2.6 million unaccounted for.
The warrant also highlights another $1 million missing from 20 court-awarded civil forfeitures between 2016 and 2021. Investigators say that money “was never submitted to the HPD property unit” and was instead “held in a safe within Velazquez’s administrative suite pending culmination of the forfeiture proceedings.”
During that same time period, detectives say Velazquez made a series of structured cash deposits into personal bank accounts to avoid federal currency reporting requirements. The warrant states that 153 deposits totaling over $293,000 were made, with approximately $265,000 going toward credit card and other debt payments.
Authorities noted that Velazquez had no significant cash deposits after October 29, 2021—just 10 days before he was relieved of duty.
As of Monday afternoon, Velazquez remained in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
